


Fate

by IngridAnne24



Category: Jane the Virgin (TV)
Genre: F/F, why can't this be canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-27 01:56:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17757587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IngridAnne24/pseuds/IngridAnne24
Summary: Jane writes Petra's part of her book, bringing some unresolved things up.





	Fate

**Author's Note:**

> anyway when's jetra gonna become canon

Jane always thought she had a handle on love. It had been the focus of her life for as long as she could remember, when her mother and grandmother stuck her between them on the couch to watch telenovelas, when Jane herself could barely hold her own head up. The central theme of telenovelas was love, that meant-to-be aspect of it all; that one person who was meant for them. And it was all Jane wanted in her life. She was going to get married, have two or three kids, and live a long, long life with that person.

Obviously, things change and life is not a telenovela (despite the fact her life often felt like one). Michael was that person, that meant-to-be person. Her romance with him seemed like everything she imagined a romance to be. 

Except, Adam seemed to be that person before Michael. He was the love her life and he seemed meant to be. Until he left and Jane didn't see him until a decade later. And then during Michael, Jane fell in love with Rafael when she accidentally got pregnant with his baby. Then Rafael felt meant-to-be, because of the baby and at the time Rafael seemed perfect. Jane knows better now.

Then she married Michael, he died, and Jane was forced to reevaluate when it meant to have a true love. After some time it felt like she could move on and Rafael seemed like the best option. Now, wording it like that seems like Jane was settling on Rafael. She wasn't. She did care for him and it made sense for them to be together, mainly because of Mateo, who so desperately wanted his parents to be together. 

Oh, and then Michael turned out to be actually alive, and Rafael had kept this a secret for longer than he should have. Jane decided it was time to officially move on.

She also decided to not focus on love anymore. At least for now. She had a book to write.

For a few months it was going well, Jane didn't really miss being in a relationship and her book was coming along nicely. It started with Alba and Mateo coming to America, Xiomara's birth, Jane's birth, and everything that followed. Every crazy little detail. Jane had to change very little. She had a handle on the things involving her family, but she wanted to get some more info for her secondary characters. Her favorite being a certain blonde whose life alone could probably fill a book or two.

She gave that blonde a call.

“Petra, hey, are you doing anything?”

Jane heard rustling of paper before Petra said, “no. Why?”

“I'm writing and I want to talk about some things. I wanted to know if you wanted to come over.”

Petra paused, then Jane heard another voice on Petra's end, then she said in a very controlled manner, “yes, I would like to come over.”

Petra was so funny about the way she talked to Jane sometimes. When they were alone, Petra was very affectionate, but in front of people, Petra was extremely awkward. It was sort of cute.

Jane smiled into the phone. “Great. Is six okay?”

Petra confirmed it was fine. Jane couldn't stop smiling for a few minutes. She made herself stop and get Mateo ready to go over to Rafael's. Mateo had take a little while to accept his parents not being together, in fact, he blamed Jane at first, thinking it was because of her. Luckily Rafael set him straight and let Mateo be angry with him for a while. The six-year-old had mostly gotten over it.

“Are you sure you don't want to come too, Mommy?” Mateo asked in his sweetest voice.

Jane gave her son a gentle smile and crouched down to his level. “Mateo, honey, we talked about this.”

Mateo sighed and nodded. “Okay.”

Jane kissed him on the forehead. “I love you and your father loves you, okay?”

“Okay.”

Rafael came a few minutes later and rather than stare sullenly at him—which he had been doing for the past month—Mateo flew into his father's arms. Rafael beamed. He gave Mateo a quick hug before patting him on the back.

“Why don't you get in the car, Mateo. The twins are already in there.”

When Mateo was gone, Rafael gave Jane a look. Not a mean look, just a look.

“...What?”

“Petra's coming over?”

“Yeah, how'd you know?” Jane asked.

“I was in her office when you called.”

That's why Petra was being weird on the phone. “Yeah, I want to talk to her before I start putting her stuff in the book. Why are you looking at me like that?”

Rafael shrugged. “It's just, it's the first time I've seen her really smile since she and JR broke up.”

Jane's lips started to curl up, but she forced them back down. “Oh?”

“She's been really down, so it's nice to see her so happy.”

Jane was failing miserably at not smiling and she didn't know why it was making her so happy. “That's good to hear.”

“Anyway, I'm taking the kids miniature golfing. Have fun with Petra!” He called out as he walked out the door.

Petra was a difficult person to get to smile and it always felt like a special honor to get her to smile. Laughing was the next step, it was like expert level of friendship. But as for the smiling, Jane didn't know what she did to make Petra smile. All she did was ask her to come over.

Either way, Petra showed up shortly after, a notebook in hand. Jane pointed at it and looked at her questioningly.

“I wanted to be sure you didn't leave anything out,” Petra explained. “So I made a list of the stuff that's happened since I've known you.”

Jane put a hand to her chest. “A woman after my own heart. Making a list.”

Petra gave her a funny look before crossing the room and sitting down on the couch. “I was pretty excited when you told me about this book, Jane. Not just because I would be in it. Your family has a rich history and I think it'll be a good thing to write about.”

“It's already starting to look long, because there's so much to write about. I'm going way back, when my abuela was young.”

Jane sat beside Petra. Petra crossed her arms and leaned into the couch. “Well, if you need to cut my parts, that's fine.”

“Please, Petra, you're almost as important as my family. I mean, you are my family.”

Petra looked away from Jane for moment, then cleared her throat and looked back. “You want to get started?”

Jane pulled out her laptop and put it on top of her legs. “Okay, so I'm going to start with a brief history of you. Just so the readers get a sense of who you are.”

“You mean we're not going to start just when you knew me?”

“Well, that's what it will mostly be. But there might be some of your history in there-- oh, I see.”

Jane remembered that Petra was not born Petra Andel. She was born Natalia... Something. Petra never told Jane her original last name, and Jane never asked. Petra had gone as far as to steal the identity of a dead girl, the original Petra Andel, so Jane figured Petra didn't want that to get out.

“Okay, I won't bring up your real name. Just that you were born in the Czech Republic and raised by a single mother, never met your father, and came to Florida in your early-20's. Married Lachlan, then married Rafael...”

When Jane looked over at Petra, she was sneering.

“What?” Jane asked. 

“You're really going to dredge up all of that, aren't you?”

“What? Who you married?”

Petra grunted. “I don't like to be reminded of the stupid mistakes I made.”

“Petra, I have some news for you,” Jane said, clapping a hand onto Petra's knee. “If I'm going to write about you, the stupid mistakes you made are going to be brought up.”

Before Petra could start to protest—because she definitely was going to—Jane added, “you know, some of those mistakes ended up being really good. I wouldn't have Mateo if you hadn't had that rash idea to inseminate yourself. Then you wouldn't have the girls if you didn't try it again.”

Petra half-snorted, half-laughed, meaning Jane was right. Jane smiled at her. Then she realized her hand was still on Petra's knee. She paused, for just a second, before pulling away.

“Anyway... let's get started. So, we met when I accidentally got pregnant with Rafael's baby and at the time, I thought you and Raf were still in love with each other, so I was going to give the baby to you.”

Petra squinted. “I forgot about that... Remember when I showed you the nursery, and you cried?”

“I didn't cry.”

“You cried, because you loved it, and I remember feeling...” Petra went quiet. “Happy, because I wanted your approval.”

“You know, that's funny...” Jane said, laughing lightly. “When I first met you, I felt like I wanted your approval. I needed it. You were going to be the mother of my baby.”

“When you say it like that it sounds like...” Petra cleared her throat, then looked down at the laptop screen. “Anyway, so, we had a lot of ups and downs.”

“That's an understatement,” Jane said. “It was a lot of weird little circumstances that brought us closer.”

“Really, really weird. A lot of them self-imposed. By me.”

“I wouldn't change any of it. Well, most of it. There's some things I wish didn't happen.”

After talking for a couple minutes, Jane felt like she had something so she started writing. Petra watched quietly, looking over her shoulder. The only sound was the tapping of the keys, the ticking of the clock on the wall, and Petra breathing into Jane's ear.

“Is there any romance in this?” Petra asked after about fifteen minutes.

“Well, it was going to be Rafael, but, you know.”

Petra clicked her tongue. “Sorry.”

“No, it's fine. Romance isn't really the focus. I mean, it is, because I talk about my grandparents' romance, then my parents'.”

“And your's?”

Jane stared at the computer screen and chuckled sardonically. “I guess that part isn't written yet.”

“Isn't your whole thing romance?”

Jane looked back at Petra. “It isn't all romance.”

“Aren't you a self-professed romance author?”

She was, Petra was right, but she didn't need Petra to nitpick right now. Or maybe she did. “Regardless, I can focus on other things.”

“What's the endgame of this book?”

“Excuse me?” Jane asked this in a much sharper tone than she meant to, causing Petra to lean away from Jane and blink at her.

“That seemed like a reseasonable question. How does this book end?”

Jane strummed her fingers along the keyboard. It was a reasonable question, but she didn't know and it annoyed her. It wasn't the first time she didn't know how to end a book, but there was something about this that was bothering her. Her book about Michael was similar, but it was something she used to cope with a tragic loss. Well, what was a loss at the time. But this was a generational story, about love and family. Romance was part of it, but not the only part. 

“I don't know,” Jane answered honestly.

“You could've said that before.”

“Sorry. It's just, I usually like the plan ahead but because this is so close to my own life, I guess I was just waiting and seeing what happened. Plus, I haven't been prioritizing romance that much lately, and that's been great, but...” Jane sighed. “I don't know. I guess I pushed it to the back of my mind.”

“Maybe just keep writing and let the writing happen on its own. You're a good writer, I'm sure it'll come to you eventually.”

Petra looked back at the screen and Jane found herself studying Petra's profile for a few seconds before looking back at the computer as well. So, she kept writing. Petra offered suggestions here and there, but ultimately remained quiet. Sometimes Jane forgot Petra was sitting next to her as she found a flow.

A lot of stuff that she and Petra went through together was being brought up, some good, some bad, and Jane realized they really had been gone through it together. It was amazing they were still friends, but they were even closer than they had always been.

“We know each other really well,” Jane said after some time when she got to a certain book in her writing. “But I'm sorry I thought Anezka was you when she was paralyzed. I thought I knew you better than that.”

Petra didn't say anything and when Jane turned to look at her, found that Petra was looking at her very instensely. 

“...What?”

“You knew?”

“Knew what?”

Petra sighed. “Jane, only Rafael knows this, because I told him, but that was me. I was paralyzed.”

The omission hung in the air. She knew that Anezka was bad, but she didn't realize she was that bad. Anezka, or Petra, rather, had been paralyzed for several months. That was actually Petra, trapped in that bed while Anezka pretended to be her.

“Oh, Petra.”

Petra continued to stare at her, her eyes wide. “You knew. Not even Rafael knew. You figured it out.”

Jane was starting to feel uncomfortable from Petra's hard gaze so she looked back down at the computer. “I guess I do know you,” she said awkwardly.

“Jane.”

Jane ignored Petra and kept writing. Or tried to, but she knew Petra was still staring at her. She felt her eyes on her, boring into her.

“Jane,” Petra repeated, her voice raising in pitch. 

“Do you believe in fate, Petra?” Jane asked, finally looking at Petra, but she wished she hadn't. Petra's face was unusually soft. Then, she looked taken aback by the question.

“Romance-wise?”

“Sure.”

Petra sighed. “I used to. I actually used to be a very romantic person. But after years of bad relationships, well, it's hard to. And with JR, I was starting to believe in it again, but I fucked that up.” Petra smiled, but there was no joy in it. In fact, Jane could see tears start to spring up in the corners of her eyes.

“Petra...”

Jane started to lean towards Petra, to offer some comfort, but Petra leaned away and pointed at Jane's computer screen. “Can I see what you've written so far?”

Jane just nodded and turned the screen towards Petra. Rather than take it from Jane, Petra leaned in, very close, towards Jane, peering at the screen. Petra stared at the computer very intently and Jane watched her face, watched as Petra's eyes moved back and forth, watched as a slight smile spread across her mouth. Jane also noted Petra was wearing perfume; Petra always did but Jane never really took notice, until right now. It was subtle, more of a slight powdery smell. The more Jane came aware of how close Petra was, the warmer her face felt.

“It's really good, Jane,” Petra finally said. “I think you've really captured me. And us.”

“It's a very complicated relationship.”

“That's an undertatement,” Petra said, smiling even more than before. Then she smiled dropped suddenly. “I'm sorry for all the stupid shit I've put you through, Jane. The baby stuff, Anezka, my mother, all of it.”

“Petra,” Jane said slowly. “Yes, it was stupid shit, but I don't know where you and I would be without that stupid shit. It brought us together, like--”

“Fate.”

Jane swallowed. Petra looked back down at the computer screen, looking like she regretted saying that. “Yes, maybe it is,” Jane said.

The pull to move even closer to Petra was suddenly stronger, like something was so obvious to Jane now, despite not seeing it before. She knew Petra could see it too, but she had to say it, even if it messed everything up. Their relationship already was strange, not like any other relationships she's had before—romantic or platonic. She had to say it.

“I think we're meant for each other, Petra.”

It hung, heavily, but Jane did not look away from Petra. If Petra just got up and left, Jane would understand, really. But she didn't. She sat there. Then, she took the computer from Jane's lap and gently placed it on the floor. She turned fully towards Jane and looked at her, hard, her large, blue eyes, wide. Petra moved towards Jane and Jane thought she was going to kiss her, but instead, Petra hugged her. Whenever Petra hugged Jane when she really meant it, she put everything into a hug. And Jane always melted into them. Their bodies just fit together.

“I love you, Jane,” Petra whispered. “In many ways.”

“I love you too, Petra. In many ways.”

There was no kiss. Instead, Petra pressed her forehead to Jane's, like when she gave birth to the twins. It was as intimate, or more so, than anything Jane could think of it. Perhaps they would kiss later, but right now, they didn't need to. Everything was being said in these simple actions. It was the first time Jane felt like she didn't need to kiss the other person to prove her love for them.

They stayed like that for several minutes. Then Jane started chuckling.

“What?” Petra asked.

“I think I might know how to end my book.”


End file.
